ActiveCampaign vs Groundhogg (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, ActiveCampaign grades higher than Groundhogg: 2.4 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 17, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
ActiveCampaign grades higher on features and ease of use. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
ActiveCampaign
Email marketing and multi-step automation priced by contacts
Groundhogg
Flat-rate CRM and email marketing plugin for WordPress
Which one is for you
Pick ActiveCampaign if
- Fits if your marketing is mostly automated sequences, like onboarding, nurture and win-back emails
- Works for stores on Shopify or WooCommerce that want email and a sales CRM on the same contacts
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a free plan to grow into, as there isn't one after the 14-day trial
- Tight if you're on Starter, since each automation stops at 5 actions, there's 1 user and lists stop at 25,000
- Pricey if your list is big, at $149 a month for 10,000 contacts even on Starter
- Watch out: SMS, WhatsApp, transactional email, sales pipelines and extra users are paid add-ons
- Watch out: landing pages need Plus at $49 and conditional content Pro at $79, both for 1,000 contacts billed yearly
Pick Groundhogg if
- Fits if you run WordPress sites and want contacts and email in the same place
- Works for agencies that want one licence across many client sites
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you are not on WordPress, as it only runs there
- Skip it if you want email sent for you, because sending needs an SMTP or sending service, and those integrations are listed from Pro
- Watch out: the vendor's price comparison assumes you host it yourself
- Watch out: a licence covers 1, 3, 5 or 25 sites by tier, and refunds are offered within 14 days of purchase
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAActiveCampaignFair | 2.0GPAGroundhoggFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C$15 a month for 1,000 contacts on yearly billing, or $19 monthly, a little above the middle of what email tools charge. Starter has 1 user and 5 actions per automation, though. Unlimited steps and landing pages need Plus at $49, and Starter is $149 a month at 10,000 contacts. | CBasic is $20 a month for 1 site on annual billing ($240), inside the email category's middle band. Plus is $40 for 3 sites, Pro $50 for 5 and Agency $100 for 25. |
| Free plan and trial | CNo free plan at all, but there's a 14-day trial with no credit card needed. That's two weeks to build an automation or two before you pay. | C14-day demo of Pro in a private WordPress sandbox, no credit card. No free plan. |
| Features | BMulti-step automations, a drag-and-drop designer with 250+ templates and A/B tests, segmentation, forms, reports and AI drafting. It covers the whole job. SMS, WhatsApp, transactional email and sales pipelines cost extra on top. | CContact management, broadcasts, automated flows, unlimited contacts, sales tools and an AI assistant connection. Sending needs an SMTP or sending service. |
| Ease of use | CNo App Store rating on record, and this is a web app where the work is building automations and segments. Expect a learning curve before it pays off. | DNo store rating on record. It needs a WordPress site you host and set up, plus an email sender. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, but it connects to Shopify, WooCommerce, WordPress, Salesforce, Stripe, Slack, Zapier and Calendly, and has an API. No desktop or phone app is listed. | BRuns only inside WordPress, with 7 integrations on record. |
| Best for | long automated email sequences | a WordPress owner wanting CRM and email |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: ActiveCampaign and Groundhogg. How we grade
Price against what you get
ActiveCampaign starts at $15 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Groundhogg starts at $20 a month and scores 2.0.
ActiveCampaign scores higher and starts $5 a month lower. Of the other email marketing and newsletter tools on the chart, 3 score higher than ActiveCampaign for less, and 28 score higher than Groundhogg for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Groundhogg is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- ActiveCampaign also covers forms and reports.
- Groundhogg also covers AI agents.
At a glance
| ActiveCampaign | Groundhogg | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $15 per month for up to 1,000 contacts, billed annually ($19 monthly) | $20 per month for 1 site, billed annually ($240) |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial, no credit card needed | 14-day free demo of the Pro plan in a private WordPress sandbox, no credit card |
| Web | ||
| Made by | ActiveCampaign | Groundhogg Inc. |
| Price read from | activecampaign.com | groundhogg.io |
| Checked | Oct 17, 2026 | Nov 12, 2026 |
Worth knowing
ActiveCampaign
- There is no free plan; after the 14-day trial every plan is paid.
- Monthly email sends are capped at 10 times your contact limit on Starter and Plus, 12 times on Pro and 15 times on Enterprise.
- SMS, WhatsApp, transactional email, sales pipelines and extra users are paid add-ons on top of the plan price.
- Starter has one user and stops at 25,000 contacts; landing pages need Plus and conditional content needs Pro.
Groundhogg
- It runs only inside WordPress; the vendor's price comparison assumes you host it yourself.
- Sending email needs an SMTP or sending service. SMTP and SMS integrations are listed from Pro.
- A single licence covers 1, 3, 5 or 25 sites depending on the tier.
- Refunds are offered within 14 days of purchase.
Key features
ActiveCampaign
- Multi-step automations
- A visual builder links actions, waits and branches into automations. Starter allows 5 actions per automation; Plus and above have no limit.
- Email designer and AI tools
- Drag-and-drop and HTML designer, 250+ templates and A/B testing, plus an AI campaign builder and AI text and image generation.
- Segmentation and personalization
- Segmentation runs from limited on Starter to premium on Enterprise. Conditional content and predictive sending start at Pro.
- CRM and pipelines
- Every plan keeps contact profiles, tags and custom fields. Pipelines, deals, lead scoring and win probability come with the paid CRM add-ons.
- Forms, landing pages and site messages
- Starter has standard and inline forms only; Plus adds landing pages. Site messages and Google, Facebook and LinkedIn ad audiences are also available.
- Reporting and attribution
- Campaign, automation and contact reports on every plan. Attribution starts at Pro; custom reports are included on Enterprise and an add-on on Plus and Pro.
Groundhogg
- Contact management
- Contact records with tags, custom fields, notes, tasks, activity timelines, saved searches and segments inside the WordPress dashboard.
- Email broadcasts
- Send broadcasts, batch large sends and handle bounces and complaints; bounce handling is a Pro feature.
- Automated flows
- Build automations that move contacts through sequences. Conditional logic needs Pro.
- Unlimited contacts
- The vendor says it never charges more for extra contacts, users, flows or email sends.
- Sales tools
- Booking calendar, lead scoring, content restriction and a sales pipeline from the Plus tier up.
- AI assistant connection
- Connect Claude or ChatGPT to the CRM over MCP so an assistant can work with contacts and flows.
Plans
ActiveCampaign
Starter$15
per month for up to 1,000 contacts, billed annually ($19 monthly)
1 user, limited segmentation, 5 actions per automation, up to 25,000 contacts. Price rises with the list: $149 a month at 10,000 contacts, billed annually.
Plus$49
per month for up to 1,000 contacts, billed annually ($59 monthly)
1 user, unlimited automation actions, standard segmentation and landing pages. $189 a month at 10,000 contacts, billed annually.
Pro$79
per month for up to 1,000 contacts, billed annually ($99 monthly)
3 users, advanced segmentation, conditional content, predictive sending and attribution. $375 a month at 10,000 contacts, billed annually.
Enterprise$145
per month for up to 1,000 contacts, billed annually ($179 monthly)
5 users, premium segmentation, custom objects, single sign-on and a dedicated account team. $589 a month at 10,000 contacts, billed annually.
Groundhogg
Basic$20
per month for 1 site, billed annually ($240)
Premium support, basic add-ons, premium flow steps and superlinks. No company records, booking calendar or sales pipeline.
Plus$40
per month for up to 3 sites, billed annually ($480)
Adds form plugin integrations, sales, CRM and marketing add-ons, company records, booking calendar, lead scoring and sales pipeline.
Pro$50
per month for up to 5 sites, billed annually ($600)
Adds SMTP, SMS, ecommerce and membership integrations and conditional logic.
Agency$100
per month for up to 25 sites, billed annually ($1,200)
Adds white-label branding, all integrations and all add-ons, and permits use for clients.
Ways to pay less
ActiveCampaign
- Annual discount
About 20% off with annual billing
At 1,000 contacts, annual billing brings Starter to $15 a month from $19 monthly, Plus to $49 from $59 and Pro to $79 from $99.
- Nonprofit
20% off for nonprofits
ActiveCampaign's FAQ offers nonprofits a 20% discount on proof of nonprofit status, requested from the sales team or, for existing accounts, from support.
Groundhogg
- Nonprofit
50% off for registered nonprofits
A grant gives registered nonprofits 50% off annual licenses for Groundhogg Pro, MailHawk and HollerBox. It does not renew automatically, so it must be re-applied for each year.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, ActiveCampaign or Groundhogg?
As of Nov 12, 2026, ActiveCampaign is cheaper to start with: $15 a month, against $20 a month for Groundhogg. ActiveCampaign starts at $15 per month for up to 1,000 contacts, billed annually ($19 monthly), and Groundhogg starts at $20 per month for 1 site, billed annually ($240).
Which has a free plan, ActiveCampaign or Groundhogg?
As of Nov 12, 2026, neither ActiveCampaign nor Groundhogg has a free plan. Both have a free trial.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.